You don’t have to look far to see this. Just scan Twitter, and you’ll see people proclaiming the death of GitHub (and even open source software). Many are making bold promises to switch to rival services — like BitBucket or GitLab.

The thing is, while I vehemently disagree with them, I get where they’re coming from. Their concern is understandable and entirely rational.

GitHub plays a vital role in the software development ecosystem. Not only do countless companies rely on it to build their own commercial software, it’s also the epicenter of the open source world, with 80 million repositories hosted on the site.

If you build software for a living, you are in some measurable way reliant upon GitHub to do your job — even if you don’t have an account yourself.

Microsoft, on the other hand, hasn’t always operated in the spirit of openness and collaboration.

“Fool me once…”

Redmond is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, it has been involved in several antitrust lawsuits involving both the United States and European Union, who argued that Microsoft abused its market-leader position in order to shut out competition.

If you had to epitomize Nadella’s accomplishments at Microsoft, it’s to bring about a sense of openness. This has been hugely beneficial to Microsoft, both from a PR perspective, but also in terms of restoring its place as the most innovative company on the planet.

Microsoft’s not about to undermine that by messing with GitHub. If it did, it would lose all the goodwill it’s garnered over the past four years.

R.I.P Github?

Another fear surrounding the GitHub acquisition is that it may lose its distinctive brand identity, and would be absorbed into Microsoft as just another business unit. Over its long history, several companies have met this fate — from Forethought in 1987, to Navision in 2002.

But looking at the company’s more recent big acquisitions, that fear seems unfounded. When Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016, nothing really changed for users. When you visit the site, there’s little to suggest you’re using a Microsoft product.

LinkedIn has retained much of its autonomy and identity. Indeed, the company is still headed by its pre-acquisition CEO, Jeff Weiner — although he answers to Microsoft’s leadership.

I don’t see why things would be any different for GitHub, especially when you consider the fact that it’s a particularly beloved company, and has a strong and visible brand identity.

That said, there are some legitimate concerns to be had about the deal. With both LinkedIn and GitHub in its pockets, Microsoft is in a position to define how tech recruitment works. That’s a worry that I think many people will keep an eye on.

But fears about the company repeating its 90s-era shenanigans feel unfounded. Microsoft is clearly a different company now. It’s time to move on.